St Andrews United: Seventh heaven as United see off Fife rivals Hibs

Lewis Sawers gave United a deserved lead in the seventh minute when he beat Thornton goalkeeper Calum Sutherland to a long pass on the edge of the box before tapping the ball into an empty net from less than a yard.

Sawers then raced onto a big punt by goalkeeper Calum Brodie in the 10th minute prior to finding the net with another very composed finish.

The impressive Micheil Russell Smith clipped the bar with a 25-yard shot before then finding Sawers free on the left wing with an exquisite pass.

United’s top scorer cut inside the Thornton left back en route to curling a terrific shot past Sutherland to claim a hat-trick inside 13 minutes, the fastest recorded treble in the club’s history.

Smith subsequently made the score 4-0 with a very clever lob from 10 yards outside the box, which Sutherland could only palm into his own net, and the away supporters were still celebrating when their team moved further ahead.

Sawers again broke free down the left and he easily ran round Sutherland prior to crossing in the direction of the unmarked Ryan Dignan at the back post. Central defender Sean Cunningham therefore slid towards the ball in an attempt to make an interception but he only succeeded in knocking the ball over his own line.

Brodie lost his clean sheet on 47 minutes when trialist Michael Gould collected a Daniel McNab pass before finding the bottom corner of the net to make it 5-1.

But the result was put beyond doubt when Scott Reekie scored at the second attempt from a Reece Redpath cross in the 69th minute.

The scoring was rounded off seven minutes later when Derryn Kesson found Dignan with a super through pass and the latter made no mistake with his finish from near the penalty spot to make the score 7-1.

After the match it was revealed that Kesson has now joined Broughty Athletic on a permanent transfer.

The only United players struggling with injury ahead of this Saturday's home league game against Hawick Royal Albert are Dave Shields (swollen knee) and Ewan White (groin strain).

Meanwhile, St Andrews United’s under-20s returned to winning ways on Friday evening with a hard fought victory over Tranent.

The game was played under the floodlights at The Clayton Caravan Park Recreation Ground and the young Saints began strongly with Euan Russell and Jay-Jay Hutchison looking living.

However, Tranent took the lead on the half-hour mark through Aidan O’Malley as the action swung from end to end.

Ryan Anderson then equalised in the 43rd minute with a terrific shot from the edge of the box yet Tranent went on to dominate proceedings at the start of the second half.

Sam Hill therefore restored the visitors’ lead from the penalty spot in the 56th minute and new United goalkeeper Craig Doctor made a couple of fine saves to keep his team in the contest.

Having weathered the storm, St Andrews United’s youngsters regained control of midfield with half an hour still to play and Nairn Lumsden headed a deserved equaliser into the Tranent net from a Hutchison corner in the 75th minute.

Kyle Fraser then latched onto a great pass by Lewis Raeside prior to curling a brilliant shot past Matthew Walker from 20 yards and that effort gave Saints the lead for the first time in the contest.

Unfortunately, Raeside was badly injured by a tackle from Scott Ramsay in the 90th minute and it came as no surprise when the Tranent substitute collected a straight red card as result.

Indeed, Saints did not look like dropping points thereafter and Nathan MacDonald almost found the net with a long-range shot before the impressive Thomas McLanaghan made the score 4-2 with a powerful drive from outside the box.

St Andrews United thus moved off the bottom of the Conference B table thanks to a morale-boosting win and Scott Meikle’s squad is now looking to climb even further up the standings during the weeks ahead.